Rita W. Harlan (about 1873 – May 31, 1933), born Sarah R. Wolff, was an American actress on stage and in silent film, head of the Rita Harlan Stock Company.
Rita W. Harlan | |
|---|---|
 Rita W. Harlan, from a 1907 newspaper | |
| Born | Sarah R. Wolff about 1873 St. Thomas, Virgin Islands |
| Died | May 31, 1933 Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Children | 3, including Kenneth Harlan |
| Relatives | Otis Harlan (brother-in-law); Marie Prevost (daughter-in-law) |
Career edit
Harlan was head of the touring Rita Harlan Stock Company in 1906[1] and 1907.[2][3][4] Members of the company included Duncan Penwarden, Inda Palmer,[5] and Russian actor Theodore Lorch, who was her co-star in a 1906 production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.[1] Her son Kenneth Harlan was also a member of her company, and sometimes acted opposite her, as her husband, brother, or even as her father. "My mother invariably played the little country girl who faced the perils of a big city," he recalled.[6] She appeared in George M. Cohan's Seven Keys to Baldpate in San Francisco, in a 1915 production starring Cyril Scott.[7]
Harlan moved to Southern California in 1915, and preceded her son into screen roles,[8] appearing in two silent films, Angel Child (1919)[9] and The Way of the Strong (1919, with Anna Q. Nilsson).[10] Also in 1919, she acted in a production of George M. Cohan's The Yankee Prince in Burbank.[11]
In 1930, she served as foreman of the jury in the Los Angeles manslaughter trial of Otto Sanhuber, who shot the husband of his lover, Walburga Oesterreich in 1922.[12]
Personal life edit
Sarah R. Wolff married George W. Harlan in 1891, in New Jersey. They had three children, Dorothy, Gladys, and Kenneth,[6][13] before they divorced in 1899.[14] She lived in Hollywood in her later years,[15] and died in 1933, aged 60 years,[16] at her younger daughter's home in Los Angeles.[17][18][19]
References edit
- ^ a b "Thatcher". Box Elder News-Journal. January 4, 1906. p. 4. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Rita Harlan Stock Company". St. Joseph Daily Press. June 1, 1907. p. 5. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Amusements at the Bell". St. Joseph Daily Press. June 5, 1907. p. 5. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Company Makes a Big Hit". The Weekly Press. June 6, 1907. p. 4. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Rita Harlan Stock Company". St. Joseph Daily Press. May 28, 1907. p. 5. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "He Played His Mother's Father". Battle Creek Enquirer. March 31, 1926. p. 14. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Columbia". San Francisco Call and Post. March 13, 1915. p. 20. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "'Thorns and Orange Blossoms'". Ellsworth Messenger. October 18, 1923. p. 3. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pleasing Star in Plotless Potpourri Helped by Cameraman". The Film Daily: 13. September 15, 1918 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Nilsson Release Comes March 17". Motion Picture News: 1828. March–April 1919 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Snappy Musical Comedy at Pelton's Burbank". Los Angeles Evening Express. August 16, 1919. p. 24. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Attic Lover is Found Guilty". San Pedro News Pilot. July 2, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Mrs. Rita Harlan Rites Tomorrow". Daily News. June 1, 1933. p. 6. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Legal Notices". The Boston Globe. March 28, 1899. p. 11. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harlan Marries". Evening Star. May 20, 1930. p. 7. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Rita Harlan". The New York Times. June 1, 1933. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Kenneth Harlan's Mother Dies". The Kansas City Times. June 1, 1933. p. 4. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Rita Harlan Dies". The Long Beach Sun. June 1, 1933. p. 9. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Rita Harlan Rites Tomorrow". Daily News. June 1, 1933. p. 6. Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.